Deviner Captive

Closet

…

Merlin nodded along to Gwaine's chatter as the knight accompanied him on his way to retrieve his master's laundry from the washer maids. It was odd how Lance met him at the door to his chambers that morning and stayed with him until the other knight arrived.

He then strangely disappeared when they met up with Arthur. They shared a nod before the knight's departure confirming the servant's suspicion.

"And why are they following me?" Merlin asked the prince as soon as the knight was out of hearing range.

The young warlock had been noticing all the Knights of the Round Table's odd behavior the past week. He was never left alone while outside of his chambers. He'd go to sneak out at night like usual and one of them would appear out of thin air. It was driving him crazy.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Arthur denied the accusation very poorly. He crumbled under the stare his manservant was giving him. "Ok, ever since the feast we've felt that it isn't safe for you to be wondering around the hallways alone because of the princess."

The warlock raised an eyebrow at how they all organized this behind his back, to perform shift work so he'd keep his virtue. "What, you think she's going to physically force me to do stuff against my will?" Merlin asked rhetorically, with a laugh.

The prince gave him a once over with his eyes contemplating. "She does look pretty strong for a girl and she'd be going against a twig, I wouldn't doubt her capable if determined enough." Arthur responded. His manservant didn't look very impressed with the comparison he used for him.

"Come on, they've been here for a little over a week now, and nothing's happened. You're just being paranoid." Merlin shrugged their worries off.

"Yeah, nothing has happened because she hasn't had the opportunity to catch you alone. See my plans working." Arthur pointed out.

"Well I'm not going along with it any longer. I suggest you tell the others the plans off. I don't need someone to shadow me, I can take care of myself." Merlin crossed his arms and looked sternly at the prince.

Arthur sighed. "Fine."

Merlin looked happy at his accomplishment.

They both continued to walk and when they turned the corner Arthur spotted Gwen at the other end of the hallway. He grabbed the unsuspecting Merlin and shoved him into the close by closet. It was full to the brim with cleaning supplies and it looked like no one had organized it in a while.

"What are you doing?" Merlin asked as he was forced into a mop and bucket, knocking them over.

The prince shushed him as he tried to listen for the sound out in the hallway. He was pushed out of the way by his manservant who tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge; His mind started to feel claustrophobic since there were no windows and he started to pull on the knob erratically.

"Calm down Merlin, stop flailing around." Arthur exclaimed as he got smacked in the face. He grabbed onto the manservant's arms and pinned him to the stood trying to catch their breaths and calm their heartbeats.

Suddenly the door opened and they both came tumbling out ungracefully along with some of the closets contents

Gwen gasped when the two males fell at her feet. She'd heard some weird noises coming from one of the storage cupboards and had decided to investigate.

Disoriented from the fall they both took a while to realize who had found them. They were both breathing hard and on top of each other.

Arthur looked from her shocked face and back down at this manservant under him. "This isn't what it looks like." He whipped his head back around at her to defend himself.

Merlin moaned.

"Ah, I need to go." Gwen quickly ran off.

Arthur dropped his head in defeat. "Do you think you could get off of me, I can't breath." The prince blushed before quickly scrambling off when he realized he was still on top of his manservant.

Merlin sat up and gulped large amounts of air into his lungs. "You're too heavy, I told you you're were getting fat."

Arthur frowned and grabbed the bucket and mop. "I'm not getting fat! Take this and go clean the quest quarters." The prince commanded.

"All of it? The prince nodded in confirmation." You can pick up your own laundry then." Merlin said cheekily as he stood up before begrudgingly taking the items and trudging off to the guest wing.

Arthur paled with horror. The washerwomen were known as the gossips of the castle. It was safe to say that some fanatical story would be spread around about why the prince was picking up his own laundry instead of his servant.

Merlin couldn't believe that Arthur ordered him to clean them all when they weren't even expecting any more guests. The whole section of the castle was abandoned except for the two rooms used by the visiting royals. He'd heard that they would both be spending the day out with Uther so he figured it was safe to use his magic.

He walked into the farthest chamber and had to hold back a gasp at how dirty it was.

Smirking as he seized the opportunity to use his magic. He snapped his fingers and the comforter on the bed became clean as if it had just come from the washer.

The young warlock had started becoming very good at silent spells recently but he hadn't perfected it yet. This was a perfect time to get some more practice in.

With a few more flicks of his wrist the whole chamber was clean to his satisfaction so he could move on to the next one.

…

Arthur frowned, on the inside, as he escorted the princess around the castle. His father had suddenly decided that they would all spend the day together. He followed behind the two kings bored out of his mind.

It seemed the negotiations were going well with the foreign king the prince thought as he looked at the two conversing royals. King Gwrthfyr never really said anything to anyone but his father so he didn't really know what they talked about together. So far the other visits had ended well but you never know when something could go belly up.

"We should go for a ride in the forest!" Uther suggested suddenly to the other king who nodded in agreement. "Arthur you should bring your knights and that servant of yours to carry everything."

"That sounds like fun." Princess Matilda said with excitement.

Arthur frowned since she didn't seem excited about it until the mention of his manservant. "Merlin is already performing a task that should take him all day, so I'll have to get another servant to saddle the horses. I'll go gather the knights and I'll meet you down at the stables in half an hour." He said as he removed his arm from the pouting princess.

…

Merlin was blissfully enjoying being alone for the first time in what felt like ages. He was laying on the bed he'd just made with freshly clean sheets in one of the empty guest chambers.

With the help of his magic he'd managed to complete all the rooms a quarter of the time it would have taken him manually. He just had the two occupied chambers to do after this one and they'd both been cleaned recently. It wouldn't do for the prince to see or hear about him wondering the castle so he decided to waste sometime here and have a nap.

…

The Knights of the Round Table collectively frowned as they watched the princess try to direct her horse unsuccessfully forward.

Arthur sighed in frustration. 'If the princess couldn't ride a horse why didn't she say so before agreeing to go riding' he thought to himself.

Uther tried to hide his frown of frustration trying to not offend the other king. "Maybe you should ride with one of the knights." He suggested in a fake polite tone to the princess.

The knights all tensed up at the suggestion each wondering who was going to be the unlucky victim. Even though Merlin had been protected from the princess' advances they had not. The boy had been oblivious to their sacrifice to protect him; putting themselves in harms way to save him.

…

"Hmm." The princess hummed as she contemplated between the knights. "Sir Per…"

Percival froze in horror. The other knights shot him sympathetic looks. Gwaine patted him on the back while secretly thinking he was glad it wasn't him.

"I think you should ride with the prince. He is rumored to be the best rider in the kingdom." King Gwrthfyr interrupted his daughter. He wasn't a fool who was blind to his daughter's exploits like most thought he was. At least this way she would be harassing the right sort.

Arthur paled in dread and Percival sighed in relief.

Matilda nodded in agreement. It really didn't matter that much to her just as long as she was placed with one of the young knights and not forced to ride with her father.

"Arthur why don't you help the princess off her horse." Uther suggested. Reminding his son how to treat a lady of a high standing since the one he was currently attached to was not.

The prince dismounted his horse and moved towards the princess who had her arms already raised and prepared to be lifted. He placed his hands under her arms and went to move her but she was heavier than he thought. Not being prepared for so much weight he managed to drop her on the ground so that she landed on his foot.

The knights winced in sympathy to their prince's pain.

Arthur had to bight his lip to stop himself from cursing out loud since she was wearing heels and he was only wearing his leather boots. He tried to act like nothing was wrong as he walked her over to his horse with a slight limp.

When he tried to lift the princess onto the saddle her large dress got in the way and swung around to hit him in the face. He had to swing his head around a couple times to remove it. When his head emerged his hair was standing up in all different directions caused by the static electricity in the fabric.

Gwaine covered his mouth to stop his laughter from being heard but the prince still shot him a glare before he mounted his horse in front of the princess. She latched onto his waist quickly. Once the two were both situated they continued riding forward.

...TBC